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73 www.baristamagazine.com Cold drip Despite its mass adoption among specialty cafés and roasters, some cof- fee connoisseurs observe that total-immersion methods produce a brew that has low flavor clarity. "Total-immersion methods will always yield something deep and chocolaty, regardless of the coffee you put in," says Bita Givechi, marketing manager at PT's Coffee Roasting Co. in Kansas City, Mo. "The end result is smooth and mellow." Detractors of total-immersion methods often turn to the other major brewing technique: cold-drip coffee, or what is often referred to as Kyoto-style drip coffee. Cold-drip coffee requires fancier equipment than full-immersion methods. That's because instead of steeping grounds in water for hours on end, the cold-drip method uses a vertical device with a water reservoir on top, coffee grounds in the middle, and a beaker at the bottom. One drop at a time, the water slowly drips through the coffee, taking five or more hours to produce a full batch of coffee. Andy Clark and James McCormack, cofounders of Bruer, a cold-drip brewing device targeted at home baristas, raised nearly $200,000 on Kickstarter to release the Cold Bruer in 2014. Other cold-drip brewers like the Yama Cold Brew Drip Tower and the Hario Clear Water Dripper have proven to be popular not just at home, but in many third-wave coffee shops. Take Portland, Ore.–based microroaster Case Study Coffee, for exam- ple. In each of Case Study's three locations, you'll find a Yama Cold Brew Drip Tower—and they're not just there because they're beautiful. For the last few years, cold brew has proven to be a big revenue center for the company, lifting profits during warm summer months and providing a gateway drink for new customers accustomed to sweet frappés and other blended drinks served at larger coffee chains. "We prefer cold drip over the full-immersion method," explains Wes Russell, co-owner and director of operations at Case Study. "Cold drip highlights the intricacies of the beans, whereas full immersion results in a less-crisp brew." Wes adds that Case Study prefers to use African coffees with the cold-drip brew method as they tend to result in a more nuanced beverage with greater flavor clarity. However, as demand for Case Study's cold brew has risen—you can now purchase it by the growler at each location—Wes and his team need to increase output, and using Yama's cold-drip towers in his stores has proven to be a challenge. Yama manufactures a large tower with high capacity, but Case Study has found the smaller tower to be more reliable. With the smaller tower capable of producing only six to eight cups per cycle, baristas have been keeping the units dripping nonstop. For this reason, Wes has been experimenting with other ways to replicate a slow drip method on a larger scale. While some café owners find themselves seeking better ways to scale their cold-drip output, other retailers, like Blue Bottle Coffee, have found ways to make cold-drip towers work as the company grows. For example, the Oakland, Calif.–based company opts to make the mad-scientist aes- thetic of cold-drip towers a central part of its cafés' design, keeping each tower in constant use to meet demand for its popular Kyoto drip coffee served on ice. PT's Coffee Roasting Co. has opted for a best-of-both-worlds scenario by serving cold-brew coffee using both total-immersion and cold-drip methods. "We are able to create large batches of our Cold Front blend using the Filtron Pro System, which makes it a viable option for produc- ing a lot of cold-brew in a busy retail environment," says Bita. "That then gives us the ability to highlight our single-origin coffees on the Kyoto in smaller batches." Bita says that this way, "our customers have options. If they want a consistently deep and chocolaty cold brew, our Cold Front brew is the #caffeinecrawl Facebook = /caffeinecrawl Twitter = @caffeinecrawl TICKETS ARE ONLINE CAFFEINECRAWL.COM AUGUST 7 & 8 Colorado BOULDER & FT. COLLINS AUGUST 14 & 15 COLORADO SPRINGS & DENVER A special thanks to Platinum Level Sponsor